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Jun 19, 2009 6:26 pm US/Central
TEA: TAKS Test Problem "Worst Breach Of Security"
All Lang Middle School 8th Grade Tests In Question
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
They're calling it the 'worst breach of security in the history of the TAKS Test'. Friday state officials explained what could happen to a Dallas middle school.
As reported Thursday night on CBS 11 News, state officials say too many 8th graders at Lang Middle School in Dallas scored
too high on their math TAKS tests.
Friday officials explained just how bad the problem is. The state says even though there are layers of security on testing day, there was a breach of that security last April. Officials said it wasn't students who caused the problem; but that unnamed adults are to blame.
Student Jonathan Garza doesn't want to take the TAKS test over. He and his father say Jonathan earned his perfect score. "Yeah, I'm mad," said the elder Jonathan Garza. "I think they're being violated. He [his son] studied hard. He's a straight-A student. He got it. He knows what he's doing."
But the state says the situation at Lang is serious. The Texas Education Agency says it found substantial and widespread test irregularities that call into question
all of the results of the 8th grade tests.
"The state has been in the testing business since 1980 and I don't ever remember seeing a situation like this before," explained TEA Spokesperson Debbie Ratcliff. "Everybody involved weighed the evidence and decided we
had to take this action."
Dallas Independent School Board Trustee Ron Price says the district discovered the problem on May 20th. "The kids did not do anything wrong. Based on some of the information that we've gathered, some adults did some things they had no business doing," said Price. 'Who those adults are, I'm not at liberty to say, because it's still under investigation. But, let clarify it was not the kids fault."
Tom Russin is a 6th grade math teacher at Lang who also works as a bus driver. He says he saw nothing irregular on campus the day the 8th graders were tested.
'We had monitors out there, at school, on every test date… from the district, within our own school. If something happened it should have been reported a long time ago," Russin said of the irregularities.
The TEA has already informed the Dallas School District that it has so little confidence in the outcome of the situation that it plans to rate Lang Middle School in one of two ways. The school will either be rated with "no rating due to data integrity issues" or "academically unacceptable".
The TEA says students who do not show up on June 30th to retake the test will be referred to a committee, which will determine if the student will be promoted to the ninth grade. Ratcliff says the law requires that a committee made up of a principal, parent and teacher look at their work and decide whether their grades merit promotion.
School Board Trustee Ron Price says those responsible for the irregularities could be fired. "Whoever's responsible for it, after we get the findings of fact, they will be held accountable and they will be terminated."
The TEA says, generally speaking, the school district determines employment status. The State would determine sanctions or revocation of a teaching certificate. The Dallas Independent School District has until mid August to finalize its investigation. Ratcliff says the TEA is assisting with the analysis of the material.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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